Move Over West Elm!

I apologize to any of you who follow me on Instagram {retroranchreno} because you’re probably all “been there, done that” with the subject of this post, but forgive me.  I couldn’t restrain myself from taking so many pictures.  It was just so much prettier than it used to be!!

Yup, that’s right…I’m talking about the bench for the end of our bed. 

I was very excited when I first laid eyes on this guy, well over a year ago.  The outdated fabric and beat up legs didn’t do it for me…but the size and price of this thing could not be beat.  For $20, I was sold!!  

And then along with most of my Craigslist finds, this poor thing was banished to live in the basement {first at our in-laws and then in our actual basement} just waiting patiently until I got around to transforming it.

The bench would probably be waiting another year if my mom didn’t convince me it was time to get it done.  During one of their trips north, we pulled it out of the darkness and got to measuring.  After figuring out how much fabric we needed, we went shopping.  Of course, nothing I saw was “it”, so I started looking online.  Once I laid eyes on the Islander Ikat Silver fabric from Fabric.com, I knew I didn’t need to look any further.  I submitted my order and impatiently waited for it to arrive.  In the meantime, my mom and I tackled the “fun” part of the recovering process {couch…sarcasm…cough}.  We ripped out all the old staples and removed the old buttons and fabric.  

Lucky for us, these staples came out MUCH easier than when we recovered my dining room chairs.  Phew!

After that it was time to find some new legs for the piece.  I could have easily sanded and re-stained the original ones, but they weren’t the style I was going for.  

Instead of thick, block-like legs, I wanted curvy, romantic ones…a la West Elm’s Essex Printed Bench.  During one of our numerous trips to Home Depot, I was able to pick these pretty things up for under $10 a piece.  I wasn’t thrilled to spend more money on the bench makeover, but I knew adding fun legs would put this project over the top for me.

At least I already owned the stain and sealer I needed for them.

Finally my fabric arrived and we got to recovering!!  After some thoughtful placement {taking pattern and direction into account}, sewing and button covering…I had myself a brand new bench!  

Or should I say Perny has a new bed.  I’m pretty sure he thinks this we completed this project just so he has another place to lay. ;)

Here is the breakdown of what I spent to make over the bench:

-Ugly CL’ed Bench - $20.00

-3 Yards of Fabric {with plenty left over to make pillows or something} - $44.94

-Legs - $36.00

-(2) Button Covering Kits - $3.94

-Upholstery Needle - $4.99

-Stain and Sealer - $0 {already owned}

-Thread - $0 {already owned}

Grand Total = $109.87

Okay, so this wasn’t the cheapest makeover, but it was way more affordable than if I bought the West Elm version brand new!  Their similar bench is priced between $299 and $349, plus a $30 delivery surcharge.  So in that case, I saved myself $219 – 269 on this project.  And while my bench isn't as perfect or professional, I still consider this project a major success! :)

Cross That Off The List!

When it comes to buying the one million things I need {okay, mayyybe the word I’m looking for is “want”} for our home, I often run into the same problems over and over again.  The first problem…a lack of money, and the second problem…the item never seems to be exactly what I had in mind.

This usually means that I spend a whole lot of time tracking down pieces for the house.  I'm definitely not one to lose patience and buy something just to get the hunt over with.  I love researching and dreaming up what to put into our home.  And more than that, I love finding amazing deals and awesome pieces to re-purpose for our casa.

This brings me to one of the pieces I have been on a mad search for.  I looked high and low and could NOT seem to find the right ottoman for our living room.  I had several requirements for this piece.  I wanted it to be:

-white, or white-ish

-leather {bonded or otherwise, so that I could easily wipe it off…this piece is going to double as a coffee table, so a drink or appetizer might drop/drip on it}

-round so people could easily move around it to the couch

-between 27” and 30” so it’d fit nicely in the nook our couch creates

-have storage capabilities

-within my budget

Yes, I had high expectations for this one piece of furniture.  I hunted and hunted and nothing seemed to fit the bill, until I came across an ottoman on Overstock.com that met 4 out of the 6 requirements.  I loved that it hit all the major items on my list, except for the storage.  But when I take a step back, I realize that storage shouldn't be that high on my criteria list because we have plenty of it in our home.  This little ottoman would not be making or breaking our storage solutions.  Plus, I had just received an O.co 10% off coupon earlier in the week.  I took it as a sign.  I had to compromise {with myself haha} and I went ahead and bought it.

This guy went into my virtual shopping cart, and before I knew it, it had arrived on our door step. 

I took it out of the box and saw that it had been neatly wrapped in a cloth bag that a more expensive purse might come in.  I had to attach the legs myself, but they provided a wrench to do so.  The legs were heavy and sturdy.  They had plastic pegs on the bottom of the wood legs, to maybe help protect the floors?  To me, they wouldn’t do.  I took out my trusty “Whole Home Felt Pad” kit and tried to put them on the legs.  I quickly saw that the thickness of the plastic pegs plus the thickness of the felt pads would make for an unstable ottoman.  I used a butter knife and popped all the plastic pegs off the legs.  Then I put the felt pads back on and they were perfect.  {I had pictures of this whole process, but I managed to delete them off my iPhone.  I totally thought I had copied them to a folder on my computer first, but I didn’t.  Oooops!  Here is the only picture I have of our newest addition to our living room.  Yes, the tag for the ottoman is still attached and dangling in the left-hand corner.  Please disregard hehe.} 

I know it’s still INCREDIBLY bare in there.  I’m working on it…as fast as I can while working a normal 8:30 – 5 job.  Believe me...it's driving me nutso to not have a homey, decorated home already!!

The ottoman definitely hasn't been the only thing I'm struggling with.  I am having a very tough time with rugs.  I have a few that I love, but they have been out-of-stock for forever, or they are out of my price range.

On my to-do list is also refinishing a bunch of pieces I have in our garage and basement, putting together some art for the walls, purchasing the fabric I finallyyyyy settled on for our curtains, sewing those curtains, spray painting frames from Home Goods, painting the barn door, oh and the list goes on and on....

And I'm not sure when all of this will get done and revealed to you guys.  Especially since I'm having some awesome friends over for dinner on Saturday and then on Sunday for the Super Bowl.  I hope you guys all have a fun-filled weekend!  GO GIANTS!!!!! :)